Nico Rosberg won his third consecutive Monaco Grand Prix after it was handed on a platter following Mercedes' strategic error.(Getty)

Nico Rosberg won his third consecutive Monaco Grand Prix after it was handed to him on a platter by teammate Lewis Hamilton.

It was Max Verstappen's overzealous move on Romain Grosjean on lap 63 that turned the race on its head. His crash at Saint Devote brought out the safety car, which led Hamilton's side of the garage to call him in for a stop, despite him having a big lead and fresher tyres than his teammate in second and Vettel in third.

The Briton stopped for a set of super soft tyres, but Rosberg and Vettel, who both decided to stay on track moved past the reigning World Champion. But since he was on the quicker tyre, it was expected that he could get back the lead. It was not the case as Rosberg went on to win with Vettel grabbing second head of Hamilton.

Daniel Ricciardo, who also decided to stop, was the biggest gainer in the last eight laps as he got past Kimi Raikkonen and teammate Daniil Kvyat to finish in fourth place.

Sergio Perez drove a solid race to maintain his position in seventh place, while it was a joyous day for McLaren-Honda as they managed their first points of the season after Jenson Button finished in eighth.

Felipe Nasr was in ninth place after the late reshuffle, and an impressive drive from Carlos Sainz Jr saw him grab the final championship point, despite starting in the pit lane.